They waited for night before making their move, which took way longer than it should have. Dark finally fell after 11 pm, and the mobs dispersed with dazed expressions. Sonic, peering over the edge of the roof, gave Shadow a thumbs up. Pretzel, sprawled out in an attempt to beat the heat, wearily climbed to her feet. Shadow, studying maps of Greece and Italy, put down his tablet and picked up the Chaos Emerald.

"Chaos Control!"

The city's temple was guarded, of course; evidently, Light Gaia was strong enough now to influence humans too close to the monument made in its honor, even at night. Even Chaos Control-ing directly inside couldn't keep them completely from notice. While Shadow and Pretzel made a break for the portal, Sonic ran interference, sweeping the legs out from under their human pursuers, knocking the stronger one against the wall, and sprinting after his friends through the door to Spagonia. No blood. Never again.

Sun glared off cobbles, and Sonic stumbled, biting down on the scream building in his throat. White hot pain twisted through him. Apparently, the light was tired of playing nice. Gasping for breath, Sonic forced himself to keep running. Shouts and yells erupted around them as they sprinted down the street, and the brainwashed citizens ran at them, waving whatever weapons they could find and screaming bloody murder. Shadow grabbed Pretzel and took hold of Sonic's arm with the same hand, raising the other with the Chaos Emerald.

"Chaos Control!"

Reality warped, and for a moment Spagonia and Apotos were tugged together. Then the world sprang apart again, and Sonic fell face forward into the empty street.

Empty?

Sonic leapt to his feet, poised to run, but stopped himself short when there were no shouts of pursuit. He looked around. Apotos was deserted. The white buildings wavered in the heat, empty. The wind whistled down empty roads. Colorful banners and signs declaring some festival or another hung like dead things. The hustle and bustle of the pretty little town was replaced by eerie, stifling stillness.

Now that he knew what he was looking for, Sonic spied the familiar shape of a Light Gaia temple near the shore, standing like a lighthouse. It had an odd red glow to it, and when Sonic turned around, he realized the red glow spread over the whole city like a dome.

"Quarantine," Shadow panted, kneeling on the pavement. "It sent the brainwashed citizens away and put up some kind of energy shield to keep the dark ones out."

"But why?" Sonic demanded. "Why Apotos?"

"This is where it began," Pretzel murmured, sitting up. "Where I woke up. Where you landed."

Shadow nodded, standing slowly. "Perhaps it was hoping to contain you and doesn't know you left. Or perhaps your awakening had some kind of effect it wishes to contain." He gestured at the temple. "The shield made it difficult to Chaos Control here. I would guess it also has something to do with the slashed door."

"That's right," Sonic realized, nodding. "There was a door to Apotos, but it was broken." He kicked at the road. "Maybe it was trying to contain me and Pretzel, just in case we found the temple and the doors."

Shadow snorted. "It certainly failed in that regard. My concern is whether Tails is still here, or if he left with the rest."

Sonic frowned. "Maybe—"

"I can sense someone," Pretzel suddenly interjected. "Two people, moving towards us fast."

Shadow made a hissing sound through his teeth. "A trap. Of course."

"Whaddya wanna bet it's harder to teleport out of here than it was to teleport in?" Sonic said dryly, turning so he and Shadow were back to back. Pretzel leapt into the air and flapped up to perch on a string of colored cloth.

"That way," she called, pointing down the street. Sonic followed her hand and felt his stomach lurch. He'd recognize those fur colors anywhere.

"Shadow," he muttered. "Don't hurt them."

Shadow looked at him for a moment, then nodded. "I… will try."

There was a brief moment before their attackers arrived, a calm before the storm that Sonic spent desperately trying to figure out how to stop his friends without hurting them. But his mind kept circling back to Tails, brainwashed, blue eyes pupilless, snarling like a rabid thing as he—it tried desperately to get at Pretzel. To get at Dark Gaia.

And Sonic? Sonic had run. He had stolen Tails' plane and abandoned him.

He narrowed his eyes and focused on the orange fur. Not this time.

"You take Tails," Shadow said, reading something in his face. "I can handle Amy."

Sonic nodded. The storm broke.

The two hedgehogs leapt apart as a red and gold hammer slammed into the pavement. White stones cracked and caved behind him as Sonic somersaulted away, green eyes intent on Tails.

The fox was flying above him, white-tipped tails stirring the air while his sky-blue eyes watched Sonic with dissonant calm. He drew something from his belt, something that looked suspiciously like a— beams of light brought the banner Pretzel was perched on tumbling down on Sonic's head. Yup, a weapon.

Grunting, Sonic fought to untangle himself from the banner, yelping as another laser burned the orange tip off one of his quills. He really hoped that would be fixed when he detransformed.

"Tails!" Sonic yelled, tugging the banner off his head in time to dodge another blast. He looked up at the fox. Still too high to reach. He looked down at the banner in his hands, and then at the surrounding buildings and decorations. Maybe…

Not wasting another moment thinking about it, Sonic moved, sprinting forwards. He was used to the rapid acceleration now, controlling it so he wouldn't completely outpace Tails. His eyes fastened on a bright string of blue and yellow fabric triangles. He held himself till just the right moment, pushed with his feet and sprang into the air. Another laser grazed his cheek. He grabbed one end of the banner, yanking it free. Momentum swung him along the building's side and into the air. Midflight he tugged the banner completely free and curled.

Homing attack, don't fail me now. Hanging in the air, he centered on Tails, willing the wind to keep him on course. It seemed Light Gaia didn't know him as well as it thought it did, because the brainwashed Tails just stared. His mistake. Sonic shot towards him, uncurling a second before impact to grab his quarry. Now Tails moved, shrieking and snarling and trying to bite him. Sonic managed to wrestle his arms down long enough to wrap him in the banner. The two of them fell from the sky, tumbling over and over until finally they came to a stop in the street.

Sonic stood, still holding the end of the banner. Tails wriggled on the ground, completely tangled in the string. He growled threateningly as Sonic walked over to him.

"Sorry about this, buddy," Sonic muttered, checking that the string would keep him contained. He glanced up to see Shadow dodge Amy's hammer and kick her neatly in the head. She lost her hammer, which was proof enough on its own that she was possessed, and before she could pick it up again Shadow grabbed her arms, dragging her kicking and screaming over to Sonic and Tails.

Sonic raised a brow. "I thought I told you not to hurt them. You could've caved her skull in."

"She was going to cave my skull in. I was being gentle," Shadow retorted.

Sonic rolled his eyes and scanned the rooftops. "Pretzel?"

"Right here," she said at his feet, studying Tails and Amy with narrowed eyes. "They're very bright."

Sonic smiled. "They are. They definitely are."

Pretzel closed her eyes, brow wrinkling with concentration. She spread her wings, and Sonic watched in astonishment as her shadow grew, spreading over Tails and Amy. The light in him hissed and snarled indignantly, but he focused on the cool, dark thing in his head and Pretzel at his feet and Shadow at his side and drove it back.

Amy suddenly stopped struggling. A few moments later, Tails stilled as well.

Pretzel sat back, panting the way cats do. "It wanted them. It wanted them very much."

Sonic nodded and knelt beside Tails. "Tails? Buddy? You okay?"

The fox groaned and sat up. "Sonic? What—" His eyes widened, and he scrambled to his feet. "Light Gaia! It's—"

Sonic raised his hands in a placating gesture. "We know. It's brainwashed half the planet and it's out to kill the rest. We have a plan, but we need your help. Are you alright?"

Tails frowned. "I… I think so. I can't remember what happened. It's all fuzzy and washed out."

Sonic chuckled, trying not to look too relieved. "Probably not much to remember. Do you know what you were doing here in the first place?"

Tails nodded slowly. "I was investigating that weird energy I noticed. There seemed to be some sort of hotspot here." He grinned. "And I was keeping track of you, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." Sonic wrinkled his nose. "I forgot all about going to space."

Tails giggled.

"Tails!" Amy yelped suddenly, jumping to her feet. "There's something—" She blinked, looking around in bewilderment. "What?" Her eyes lit on Sonic, and to his surprise, she grabbed her hammer and dropped into a battle stance. "Tails, look out!"

"Amy, it's me," Sonic raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, stepping back in case she decided to attack.

"Oh! Sonic!" Amy happily put her hammer away and darted over to him. "What happened? The Professor said something bad was happening and that Light Gaia was controlling you— waaaait." She narrowed her eyes at him. "How do I know you're not being controlled by Light Gaia right now?"

"Um." Sonic tried desperately to think of something to prove his identity, but his mind was full of hammers. Fortunately, Shadow beat him to the punch.

"If he was being controlled by Light Gaia, he would not be working against Light Gaia."

"It's true!" Tails chipped in. "I was being controlled by Light Gaia and he fought me!" He glanced down at the streamer binding him. "Uh, speaking of which…"

"Oh, yeah!" Sonic hurriedly started unwrapping him. "Sorry about that."

"No problem." Tails sat up, rubbing his arms. He squinted at Sonic and blinked several times. "Um… Sonic, you're… uh, your…"

"Yeah, I know." Sonic flicked the strange, flame-tipped tail. "Something weird Light Gaia did." He nudged Tails playfully. "Just be glad you didn't get turned into a dog or somethin'."

Tails giggled. "Speaking of which, you look kind of like a cat. But with wings." He frowned. "I wonder why—"

"HEDGECAT!" Pretzel yelled at the loudest volume Sonic had heard from her yet. When they stared at her, she shrugged. "He got to name me, I get to name him. Hedgecat. It makes sense." She added the last part sulkily as she dragged a claw over the stone.

Tails seemed to suddenly become aware of the others present, glancing from Shadow to Pretzel to Amy. He looked up at the red dome around the city, then finally returned his gaze to Sonic. "Did you say something about a plan?"